Our goal is an editorially-independent ABC that is fully-funded by the government and meets its charter as a comprehensive national broadcaster, that is resourced to tell Australian stories across multiple platforms, and positioned to take advantage of new technology to retain its position as the most trusted and reliable source of news and entertainment in Australia.

]]>https://fabcqld.wordpress.com/2016/01/22/join-with-the-meaa-and-cpsu-in-standing-up-for-the-abc/feed/1fabcqldFABC gearing up for an electionhttps://fabcqld.wordpress.com/2016/01/19/fabc-gearing-up-for-an-election/
https://fabcqld.wordpress.com/2016/01/19/fabc-gearing-up-for-an-election/#respondTue, 19 Jan 2016 08:13:14 +0000http://fabcqld.wordpress.com/?p=164]]>FABC are calling all of Auntie’s supporters to help us out in the lead-up to the federal election. After historic cuts to the ABC that have seen more than a thousand years’ worth of public broadcasting experience forcibly let go, we need you help now more than ever.

Queensland Friends meeting at Parliament House at the end of 2015

If you can help out running an information stall, distributing flyers in your neighbourhood or attending events, please let us know. A change of Prime Minister has not seen a change in this government’s dangerous attacks on the ABC which plays an irreplaceable role in our nation’s identity and culture.

Please like our new Facebook page to keep up to date on our campaigns.

To help out or for more information, email – kookaburrapa@gmail.com

or phone (07) 3870-7718 or 0418 291 35

]]>https://fabcqld.wordpress.com/2016/01/19/fabc-gearing-up-for-an-election/feed/0fabcqld2015 Meeting at Queensland Parliament HouseQuentin Dempster speaking for the Cloudland Collectivehttps://fabcqld.wordpress.com/2015/02/25/quentin-dempster-speaking-for-the-cloudland-collective/
https://fabcqld.wordpress.com/2015/02/25/quentin-dempster-speaking-for-the-cloudland-collective/#respondWed, 25 Feb 2015 02:25:43 +0000http://fabcqld.wordpress.com/?p=160]]>FABC Qld were proud to support the Cloudland Collective’s forum featuring Quentin Dempster at the Irish Club on February 24th.
Quentin spoke to a hundred supporters, sharing his insights into the future of the ABC and his reflections on the ongoing attacks on the national broadcaster.

Quentin Dempster addressing the crowd

Poet Jonathon Sri’s performed two pieces on issues that would go largely unreported without a strong, independent public broadcaster and our President Ross McDowell also spoke on the many vital roles the ABC plays in our society.

To identify federal politicians that represent you & to locate their electorate office contact details: enter your postcode in the Keyword search box near the end of the page at: http://www.aph.gov.au/Senators_and_Members or phone the Australian Electoral Commission on 13 23 26

]]>https://fabcqld.wordpress.com/2014/11/18/phone-your-coalition-pollie-to-support-the-abc-wednesday-19th-november/feed/0fabcqldPhone A Coalition PollieJoin the ABC’s Friends for a National Day of Action this Friday 1.30 pmhttps://fabcqld.wordpress.com/2014/11/17/join-the-abcs-friends-for-a-national-day-of-action-this-friday-1-30-pm/
https://fabcqld.wordpress.com/2014/11/17/join-the-abcs-friends-for-a-national-day-of-action-this-friday-1-30-pm/#commentsMon, 17 Nov 2014 10:43:19 +0000http://fabcqld.wordpress.com/?p=149]]>The Queensland Friends of the ABC invite all viewers, listeners and supporters of the ABC to join us for the Brisbane action for our national broadcaster.
In support of the staff and the very institution that was created to educate, entertain and inform Australians about themselves and the world, we will be gathering outside the ABC studios on Grey St at South Bank from 1.30-2.30pm on Friday the 21st.
We are proud to join groups from across the country standing up to the government’s cuts to Auntie’s funding, scope and independence and call on the Prime Minister to stand by his pre-election pledge:

“No Cuts to the ABC”.

For more information, email – kookaburrapa@gmail.com

or phone (07) 3870-7718 or 0418 291 350.

]]>https://fabcqld.wordpress.com/2014/11/17/join-the-abcs-friends-for-a-national-day-of-action-this-friday-1-30-pm/feed/1fabcqldABC Open Day – October 11https://fabcqld.wordpress.com/2014/10/14/abc-open-day-october-11/
https://fabcqld.wordpress.com/2014/10/14/abc-open-day-october-11/#commentsTue, 14 Oct 2014 10:07:54 +0000http://fabcqld.wordpress.com/?p=145]]>The ABC Open Day was well attended as usual. The 7pm ABC News estimated 1200 people attended.

It was a beautiful sunny day and our own Ann McGrath was interviewed in her Friends of the ABC T Shirt. It was wonderful to see TV Star Ann McGrath on ABC1 News at 7.20pm. She captured the audience with her intense answers and the visual Friends of the ABC T Shirt was a delight.

Ken Hall working hard

Of course Ann, along with Ken, Fay, Norm and Ross as well as Bruce, Colleen, Dani, Jono and Rowena from the CPSU helped FABC Qld distribute 600 postcards, 500 Services brochures, 400 car stickers, gather completed postcards and sold $100 of T Shirts.

The ABC Friends attendance at the Open Day was a great success. We illustrated our support to the ABC staff on site and had conversations with personalities like Pip Courtney of Landline.

Thanks to all who helped and we look forward to seeing you at our next activity.

Ross McDowell

]]>https://fabcqld.wordpress.com/2014/10/14/abc-open-day-october-11/feed/1fabcqldKen Hall working hardSave Lateline and News & Current Affairs – petitionhttps://fabcqld.wordpress.com/2014/09/30/save-lateline-and-news-current-affairs-petition/
https://fabcqld.wordpress.com/2014/09/30/save-lateline-and-news-current-affairs-petition/#commentsTue, 30 Sep 2014 00:33:14 +0000http://fabcqld.wordpress.com/?p=140]]>Before the last election, Tony Abbott promised “no cuts to the ABC”, but the cuts are coming: perhaps ten per cent of the ABC’s budget is in jeopardy. It’s certain that in response, the Board is contemplating cuts to the ABC’s current affairs coverage. Lateline could be axed, and some news coverage could be halved. Yet, as Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has himself said many times, with the business models of commercial media in crisis, Australian democracy needs ABC news and current affairs programs now more than ever.

The demise of Lateline could be just the beginning. The ABC’s Friday 7.30 programs, which consistently break important local and state-based stories, could also go. So too could radio current affairs programs on ABC Local Radio and specialist programs on Radio National.

Decisions are expected as soon as this Wednesday – so we need to act now. Will you sign my petition?

Recent reports strongly suggest that the Managing Director of the ABC Mark Scott and the ABC Board are poised to sacrifice iconic investigative reporting programs such as Lateline, in what many are speculating is an attempt to appease the Abbott Government.1 Why? Because Lateline has a strong reputation for holding governments and politicians to account by asking the tough questions. You know, the very reason independent media like the ABC was first established.

The ABC Board are set to meet this Wednesday.2 Chances are they’ll discuss which programs to save, and which can be sacrificed. It’s highly likely the future of Lateline, amongst other iconic programs, will be high on the agenda. While the ABC Board might be willing to sacrifice investigative reporting, the people who pay for these programs (all of us!) sure aren’t – and we’ll let them know it.

Concerned about the cuts, former Media Watch presenter Jonathan Holmes started a petition on GetUp’s grassroots campaigning platform, CommunityRun. Will you join him and sign the petition calling on the ABC Board to protect quality investigative reporting?

Lateline isn’t the only show on the sacrificial altar, with media reports suggesting further cuts are on the cards. The Guardian Australia is reporting the following programs might also set to face the axe: •The state-based 7.30 current affairs program
•ABC radio news bulletins, which will be cut from ten minutes to five
•The World Today radio program will be cut in half
•Several specialised Radio National programs to face the chop, including Bush Telegraph, Rear Vision, 360, Hindsight, Encounter and By Design3
Losing these programs will mean losing essential coverage of rural and regional issues and investigative reporting that cuts to the heart of the issues that matter most.

If we lose the quality investigative reporting these programs are known for, just what else will we be losing? Interviews like that of NSW Police Detective Chief Inspector Peter Fox, whose revelations on Lateline led to the establishment of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. Or reporting from 7.30 NSW, which has kept the public up-to-date with the evidence to come out of the ICAC inquiries.

Without programs like Lateline and the state-based 7.30 report, what other stories will be left uncovered and go unreported? What could politicians and our government get away with?

The ABC Board meets this Wednesday. Before then, we need to let them know how important quality and independent reporting is to us, the public, and how risky it would be to put investigative reporting at risk, in a time when it is needed most.

GetUp members have a strong history of fighting to protect our ABC. Earlier this year, tens of thousands of us rallied in the streets urging our government to keep their promise of no cuts to the ABC in the 2014 budget, and hand-delivered petitions to MPs in more than 61 electorates around the country. The result was a much more modest cut to the ABC’s funding than expected. But now, further cuts have become a reality, one that could threaten some of the programs we love most – so we need to rally again.

Sean has worked for the ABC in the Pacific since the early 1970s as PNG Correspondent then on Radio Australia before moving to the Australia Network. Sean is one of the many long-serving ABC personnel lost to us when the current government axed the Australia Network, costing the national broadcaster over a 1000 years of cumulative journalistic experience.

Join us in hearing about his experiences with the ABC and his thoughts on the current challenges faced by everyone’s favourite Auntie.

]]>https://fabcqld.wordpress.com/2014/09/26/abc-friends-agm-featuring-sean-dorney-sat-sep-27/feed/0fabcqldQld Friends at the Bust the Budget Rally – August 31sthttps://fabcqld.wordpress.com/2014/09/05/qld-friends-at-the-bust-the-budget-rally-august-31st/
https://fabcqld.wordpress.com/2014/09/05/qld-friends-at-the-bust-the-budget-rally-august-31st/#commentsFri, 05 Sep 2014 14:17:56 +0000http://fabcqld.wordpress.com/?p=119]]>ABC Friends Qld rallied as part of the contingent opposing the Abbott Government’s attacks on essential services including the national broadcaster.

Along with the loss of $120 million over the next four years, the axing of the Australia Network and 8o staff with it, the ABC faces a return to blatantly politicised board appointments. The government has appointed right-wing commentator Janet Albrechtsen and prolific critic of the ABC, Neil Brown to the panel which reviews Board appointments for the ABC.

Ross and Val waiting for the rally to begin at Queen’s Park

Our choice position at the front of the rally meant we were at the back of the march.

]]>https://fabcqld.wordpress.com/2014/09/05/qld-friends-at-the-bust-the-budget-rally-august-31st/feed/1fabcqldRoss and Val waiting for the rally to beginStanding up for the ABCOur choice position at the front of the rally meant we were at the back of the march.Looking to Help Out?https://fabcqld.wordpress.com/2014/08/05/looking-to-help-out/
https://fabcqld.wordpress.com/2014/08/05/looking-to-help-out/#respondTue, 05 Aug 2014 01:22:20 +0000http://fabcqld.wordpress.com/?p=95]]>The Friends’ national website is still the best place to find up to the minute information about the ABC and ways to help out.

If you are in Queensland and are interested in helping to protect the ABC, contact Ross by email through kookaburrapa@gmail.com or by phone on 0418 291 350